A safe patient is an informed patient. In today’s world, that means having the information we need to make informed healthcare choices. Nowhere is this more important than in the hospital setting. In the United States, the move to make hospitals safer has spun a virtual cottage industry of rating systems that score hospitals on […]
(Published in the Huffington Post May 8, 2015) Being hospitalized today presents a serious dilemma to both patients and families. You need hospital care because of some condition or disease. But you may also need protection from the hospital and the harm that can occur. One night several years ago, when my mother was […]
An investigation by Canada’s largest regulator of pharmacists found that a hospital in south-central Ontario was allowing an unregulated pharmacy assistant to work in its pharmacy without required supervision by a licensed pharmacist. The work included entering doctor’s prescriptions into the computer prior to being sent to the nursing floor. The investigation followed complaints that […]
Many Canadians have learned the hard way that their healthcare system is not nearly as safe as it needs to be. Lack of adequate accountability is keeping it that way. And the reason, as more and more are discovering, is because it works so well for hospitals, policy makers and, now, lawyers. My family’s eye-opening […]